


As Dr. Suess Said

by orphan_account



Category: Olympics RPF, Swimming RPF
Genre: Cross-Generation Relationship, Drabble, Drinking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-13
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-02-08 15:43:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1946814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bob comforts a distraught Michael after his DUI.</p>
            </blockquote>





	As Dr. Suess Said

* * *

Sometimes when everything gets to be too much Michael will get a certain look in his eyes; it’s a look of a far away sadness that makes his shoulders slump and his head hang low. That is when Bob knows he has to pull his boy aside, see what’s wrong, and fix it.

This time he finds Michael sitting alone in his hotel room in the dark, the only light coming from the screen of Michael’s MacBook on which he’s pulled up an iTunes playlist that he only listens to when he’s doing some serious thinking. The music itself is song after song of crooning jazz singers and lazy hushaby blues artists. Michael is sprawled out over the left side of the king-size bed because the right side has always been Bob’s and the older man takes his rightful place next to the younger man, picking up the laptop and setting it on the nightstand.

“What’s wrong, Puppy?" Bob asks in a neutral yet concerned tone as he gathers the newly turned nineteen-year-old in his arms. Michael always responds when Bob uses the private little pet name he gave the swimmer after their first encounter not as coach and athlete but as lovers.

“They think I’m a fucking joke." Michael curses wretchedly, faking a hiccup to cover his sob. “I give it my all. I put my blood into this sport- every time I dive in, every flipturn I do, every last stroke towards the wall- I put my soul into that pool and they treat me like I’m some punk kid with no work ethic. And that was just before. Now they treat me like shit because I made a stupid mistake. I know what I did was wrong but they won’t let me forget it. It’s all fucked up. And it’s just so Goddamn frustrating."

“Do you remember what I told you after your first bad race?" Bob asks.

“Yeah," Michael replies, nose stuffy from crying. “The ones who mind don’t matter and the ones who matter don’t mind."

“That’s exactly right, Puppy," Bob says. “Exactly right."


End file.
